Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 6, 2026
Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 6, 2026
Pine Warbler, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 6, 2026
Double crested Cormorant, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 6, 2026
Pine Siskin, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 6, 2026
American Goldfinches, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 6, 2026
Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 6, 2026
After making a trip down to the
Holyoke Dam early this morning in the rain and picking up a few species for the month I headed to an urgent care to check out my foot that I injured yesterday at home. Following some x-rays it turns out I indeed broke my foot and would be need 6-8 weeks to heal. To say I was not too happy with this finding would be an understatement as I would need to cancel my upcoming trip to Puerto Rico scheduled for next week and would greatly curtail my very active lifestyle of walking several miles a day. I made a brief stop at
Winsor Dam on my way home but the rain and poor visibility made it tough to see much of anything. I then ran some errands and then headed home to sulk a bit. After a shower I got a text from Aaron saying he had a Franklin's Gull at the Oxbow in Northampton. I initially had plans to possible head over to Northampton but with my foot throbbing and the radar showing the rain ending soon I decided instead to head to
Winsor Dam. I arrived just as the rain was coming to an end. I quickly scanned the reservoir and noticed a single dark mantled gull sitting on the water. I could see a partial dark hood and knew it was likely something good. I also noticed the state police decided it would be a good time to go out and play with their boat on the water. I hobbled out of the car and got the scope set up just as the gull flushed up and circled around a few times before heading north. All the field marks pointed toward Franklin's Gull as I ruled out all the other possible dark headed gulls. The gull eventually settled way out and was beyond the point it could be identified. I scanned around the reservoir a bit and missed the gull leaving the area so no idea what direction it headed. I stayed around for another 45 minutes, joined for a time by Brian and we never saw it again. While waiting for the gull to reappear I had a few other rarities including a
Pine Warbler and a flyover Red Crossbill plus loads of American Goldfinch and some Pine Siskins. Franklin's Gull is a rare species in the area with several years between sightings. I last had the species in the county back in
2020 at the oxbow (also found by Aaron). My first sighting of the species in the county happened in
2015 when I found a couple on the morning of November 13th and singles occurring on the 14th and
15th. I suspect the strong south winds over the last few days that brought us record warmth moved the gulls in. I usually would expect them to be more likely with a strong storm in the mid part of the country pushing them into the area. Certainly will be worth keeping an eye out for more Franklin's Gulls over the next few days.
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